To prevent freezing, water meters are placed twelve to twenty-four inches below ground level in wells or boxes. In the rainy seasons or in low level regions, the meter boxes are frequently flooded. When this occurs, the meter reader is forced to bail water out of the meter box to enable him to obtain a meter reading because it is impossible to read the meter through a foot or more of water above the meter face. The customary process is awkward, time-consuming and very expensive for city water departments.
This problem has been recognized and dealt with in prior U.S. Pat. No. 1,236,265. In this patent, a downwardly flared casing having a lower open end is placed over the submerged meter face and trapped air inside of the casing resists the rising of water therein above a low level. A light bulb is provided in the casing well above its lower end and the meter face. A lens is provided at the top of the casing to facilitate reading the meter. While this device is useful, it does not effectively and completely solve the problem. Some water still rises in the bottom of the casing until air is compressed sufficiently to limit the water level therein. Also, a layer of silt frequently covers the face of the submerged meter and the device in the above patent includes no means to eliminate or wash away the silt. Hence, in many cases, the device is ineffective.
The present invention seeks to improve on the prior patented device by providing an extensible and compressible scope which has the ability to direct a flushing jet or stream of water against the face of the submerged meter to completely clear it for easy reading. Furthermore, in the present invention, the light source is arranged at the lower end of the scope inside of a waterproof capsule rather than remotely and above the water level, as in the patented device. This feature renders the device much more efficient and effective. A completely different mode of operation is utilized in the invention, whereby water from the meter box is first drawn into the scope and subsequently expelled under pressure to clean off the meter face after the lower end of the scope has been positioned close to and above the face. There is no necessity to suppress the water level in the meter box as with the prior art and the present invention does not seek to do so. The necessity for bailing out the meter box is fully eliminated and the device is very convenient to use by the meter reader and is capable of saving much time and thereby materially reducing the cost of meter reading service to the utility water department.
The full advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following description.